The Sapling
by Miraculous Pink Ninja
Summary: Cedar is the son of a tree and a flower. Not many expected things from him, but those that did made him aim high, but he never cared. Things changed. When he started caring for what they cared for, things changed, for better or for worse. (RWBY: Next Gen deleted chapter)


**Foreword:**

 **This is an alternate universe. In this world, the only main difference from the cannon series is that Oscar is two years older than Ruby. I ship Rose Garden, but I don't like shipping Ruby and Ozpin, so no complains about that being that.**

 **This verse takes place after Volume 5, but anything onwards never happened. Why? Because Volume 6 is being released and I don't want it interfering with my work. Though some elements of future volumes may be applied.**

 **I don't own RWBY. It belongs to Rooster Teeth and was created by the great man Monty Oum. I have no rights over the series, but it doesn't give anyone the right to claim my story as their own.**

 **This was written for my entertainment, and published in an attempt to entertain you.**

 **With that, enjoy :)**

He was a six year old boy who knew nothing about the woods. He and his sister had gone out to play. Their parents told them to stay within the clearing, considering that fact that the forest was infested with Grimm to a degree that was dangerous to a helpless kid like him.

He didn't follow. It's not that he despised his parents or was disobedient. He was just too adventurous and caught up in the game to care.

He and his sister were playing hide-and-seek in the relatively wide but bare clearing. They only allowed themselves to hide in trees not three feet away from the skirts of their playground. He was daring and wandered eight feet too far.

He was spotted by a small Nevermore. Young and mindless. Though it was no bigger than a regular bird, he ran, his heart filling with fear. He wasn't ready. He wanted to become a merchant and travel around the world! He didn't want to die!

He eventually stumbled onto a cliff. He wasn't thinking. If it weren't for the stone slab in his way, he would've jumped off the edge.

All previous fear disappeared into thin air as his attention was diverted to the rock underneath his stomach. Old and covered with moss, the edges cracked and broken, and the base hidden in thick grass and white flowers.

The emblem embedded into the stone was recognizable enough. His mother wore that symbol all the time. It was sewn onto her eye patch with dazzling silver thread, and it was printed onto the back of her red hood with a gold shine. The words, however, were nothing but lines to him. He could form scholarly sentences and recite full speeches, but barely read, so the only things he could understand were 'Rose' and 'I'.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a gunshot. Whipping his head around, he saw his mother coming towards him, tired from the recent battle and the search for the little guy. She was worried. Thankfully, he was unharmed besides the scrapes on his knees and palms from playing with his sister. When they got home, she treated him and his sister, who was equally, if not more, worried, with warm chocolate milk and a tray of sugar coated cookies.

He didn't remember much, but a couple of years later, he wanted to see the slab again. He kept thinking about it as he planted the fruit saplings in a large clearing. He kept wondering what it had been doing there as he toiled the soil for future crops. He kept asking himself why it looked so old as he picked the weeds. Now that he was eight and able to read full novels (most of them being fairytales), he wondered what was carved into the old stone while he killed the tiny Nevermores that refused to be scared away from the trees. When the sun began to set, he got up and carried his supplies back home.

Home was no where close to where he was going. He thought the was going back to his family's cottage, but he wasn't. He was straying further away. He had been so deep within his thoughts that he didn't notice his father came to a sudden halt. While his dad suffered from an episode of massive headaches, he walked on, unaware of his surroundings.

He stopped short when he foot hit a stone slab. He then realized that if it weren't for it, he would've fallen off another cliff without even realizing it. Again. He thanked whatever god was listening and, now having a much bigger vocabulary than before, bent down and tried reading the words carved in stone, thinking it was the same one from two years back.

It wasn't the same slab. This one looked newer and cleaner. In the center was a heart with fire coming out of the top. Even if it wasn't the one he was looking for, he diligently read the writing.

 _ **Yang Xiao Long**_

 _Daughter, Sister, Huntress, Hero_

 _ **Thus I release into the wind.**_

He didn't understand that it meant. It was then when his father realized that he was gone and went after him. He wordlessly brought him home.

That night, he remembered listening to his parents' conversation about the events of the day. At first he was curious, and wanted to go down to hear more, but Orchid was at the door with a smile on her face. That night she told him stories, ranging from fairytales to real events, and from the moon and back.

It was at the age of nine when he decided that he would become a huntsman. He was unaware of his sister's activities mostly because he tended to his little farm more than he played with her at that time. She was accepted into Signal, and their grandfather had come along to congratulate her. Orchid and Taiyang combined had inspired the little boy to become a huntsman.

As he was talking with his grandfather as they sat on the back porch one starry night, he asked.

"Grandfather?"

"Yeah?"

"I remember seeing rocks with writings in the woods many times. Do you think we could go out tomorrow and look for them?"

"…rocks with writings?"

"Yes."

He didn't remember what his grandfather had said, but he didn't remember going out and adventuring for the slabs either.

However, he remembered having a conversation with his grandfather before he left.

"Cedar."

"Yes?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"A merchant! I want to travel the world and earn money!"

"That seems…ambitious."

"Thank you!"

"Have you ever thought of… I dunno. Becoming a huntsman?"

"Um…no. Why?"

"Heh, nothing. It's just that, when your mother was your age, she was already training to become huntress."

"Really?"

"Haha, yeah…Anyway, see you around, sunflower."

"Wait!"

"Huh?"

"If my mom always wanted to become a huntress, then I want to be a huntress too!"

And so he started his journey to become a huntsman.

He eventually forgot about the graves.

He was twelve when the dreams started. Graphic scenes of death and violence filled his mind. He feared them. He first ran to his father, but every time he told him about it, his dad would have an episode, so he turned to his mom, who seemed to shut down for three minutes before comforting him that they were just dreams. He was thirteen when he realized that they were getting too vivid for his taste. Too real to seem like dreams. This time, his mom always told him the same thing.

"I'll tell you when you're older."

So he waited.

Until then, he would enjoy his life in the day and ponder on his future in the night.

XxXxX

A young man of age fourteen walked up to his mom with a smile. In his arms was a basket of fresh apples he had picked from the small orchard that his father and sister had helped him grow. His mother returned the smile. She chose an apple from the basket and took a bite from it. She swallowed and held the fruit in between she teeth while taking the wicker container from the boy's arms and placed it in the middle of the dining table.

"Hey, Cedar!"

The boy whipped his head around and jogged to the open door. In their backyard stood his eighteen year old sister. She was surrounded by several baskets filled with other crops, such as carrots and pear, all from the little farm Cedar had tended himself.

"What do I do with all these?!" she asked, hands on her hips.

Cedar smiled with a sigh as he hopped over, snatching his staff from the side of the wall with a smile. He hooked the handle of one basket on one side and did the same with the other. He hoisted the loaded staff onto his shoulders like a weight and stalked towards the tiny barn, his sister not far behind, carrying two baskets in each hand. _Show off._

With a grunt, he set down the goodies in the corner of the building. Turning back to get more, he saw Orchid already going back and forth, carrying baskets with ease.

"You did **not** just do that," he chuckled.

"And what if I did?" she smirked, placing down the last of the crops.

As they shared their moment, Cedar's eyes suddenly widened with fear.

"Ah, crap—the potatoes!" he gasped.

He ran out the barn, tripping on his staff as he did so. His sister was snickering, but he couldn't care less. He shortened his staff and sheathed it behind his back as he got up and ran towards a nearby clearing.

"Don't come after me! I got this!" he yelled.

He didn't wait for a reply.

He ran. He stumbled across the grassy land and tripped over a branch once or twice. He lost himself in the process of getting the potato that he complete forgot that he had passed his orchard. Scolding himself, he skidded to a halt and made a strong u-turn. After a few more minutes of suffering, he tripped over a stone half buried in the soil and landed on his chin. He grunted as he pushed himself up. He knew that if it weren't for his aura, he would've been bleeding by now.

With a grin, he realized that he had landed in his orchard, and sitting under a tree was a basket half-filled with potatoes. He got up and dusted himself off. A sensation of pins and needles running up his leg told him that he had a cramp. He didn't care. As he limped to the basket, he heard crunching, but he payed it no mind. It was when he got to his destination did he realize that he should've been more attentive.

Red eyes glowed yellow in the darkness, and attacked.

A Grimm, about his size, pounced and knocked him off his feet. Cedar kept his forearm under the Grimm's jaw, preventing it from biting him, but he couldn't hold it for long. He tried to reach behind him for his staff, but the weight the monster applied to his body was too much, and with his arm pinned under him, he couldn't do anything.

He might die.

XxXxX

"Where did Cedar run off to this time?" Ruby asked as she stepped out of her house, her robotic leg let out silent hums as she walked.

"Forgot to get the potatoes," Orchid replied, petting the head of the old dog Zwei on her lap. By her side was another dog that they named Ai. She was also old. Around Ai was her three new born puppies: Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Orchid paid the names no mind. She thought that they were just named like that for no real reason besides their color. "He'll be back soon," she said, looking up at her mom.

"Well he'd better," she said with a sigh. "Your dad's coming over with your grandfather soon, so he would be here before then otherwise I'd have to go out and look for—" a scream ripped through the air "… _him_?"

XxXxX

Cedar was _scared_. He was **terrified**. He's never faced anything like this before!

He aimed his double-ended scythe rifle at the Grimm's head, but his terrible aim cursed him once again and missed.

He was screaming for help, but he was fighting, so it's gotta be _something_. Right?

Wrong. He felt weak and helpless. It didn't make a difference. He felt like he was dying. He _knew_ that he was never gonna see the light of day again. He knew that he wasn't gonna be able to become a huntsman. Want kind of son was—

The Grimm was knocked aside by a powerful blow. It was followed by a barrage of powerful strikes, leaving nothing but a blur til the monster dissolved into ashes that were carried away by the wind.

Cedar took a breather. He felt light-headed and tired. The one who stood before him was his father, who was looking at him with worried eyes.

He knew he could count his father.

Wait…

"Dad!" He gasped, stumbling back. Rose Tree folded back into its shortened staff form as he accidentally pressed a button. "I'm so, **so** sorry!" He felt like a failure, but his father didn't move a muscle. Instead, he stood there, gold eyes glaring down at Ced—

 _Gold eyes?_

"Cedar Pine, we need to—"

His father suddenly gasped as he fell onto his knees. He held his hands to his head as he yelled.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY, YOU FREAK!"

Then he grandfather came. Tai was concerned for his son-in-law just as much as he was for Cedar.

The boy was in shock. He never thought that something like this could ever happen, yet it was happening, right before his very eyes.

His father was not okay.

And he never will be.

Not without his little Orchid.

But…

That was a long time ago

It had now been a semester ever since he entered Shade, and he still had to be assigned to a team. Every team that he had a go with rejected him because he was either too good or too bad for their standards. He didn't know whether the problem was him or them. He usually thought it was him.

It had been three months ever since Orchid had gone missing. She had run off. Cedar didn't know why and didn't have the courage to ask his heart broken parents for a reason. He left for Haven without a word, leaving his parents for Taiyang to take care of, just like he promised he would. Cedar could still feel the hurt from when he saw Orchid run off with a back pack as he came home carrying a fresh basket of apples he had planned to share with his sister. He never got to.

"Heard you needed a team."

Cedar turned his green eyes towards a girl with pale blond hair so light, it looked white underneath the moonlight.

"Yeah," he chuckled bitterly. With a disappointed sigh, he turned back to the village below him. The people were happy. Cedar wished that his family could like that.

"Well," the girl said, strolling up to Cedar's side. "We _do_ need another member."

Cedar glanced at her. He was desperate for a team, but he had been rejected so many times, he was afraid of being kicked out again. This girl seemed genuine, but she still seemed like she didn't want to be with him.

"…you only want to pick me because there's nobody else left," he concluded, not looking at her in the eye.

"Yeah," she replied with a bite in her tone. "But Rhino wanted a partner because he couldn't share his likes with anybody. Said that you would be the perfect addition to the team."

"Hornet?" Cedar asked, turning his head to meet the girl's gaze. Her dull sapphire blue eyes were filled with boredom.

"Yeah."

That's how team OSCR came to be. Sapphire and Opal weren't all in with the addition of someone everyone rejected at first, but they came to realize that if it weren't for Cedar, their team would still be in the dirt. They were good fighters, but nothing pushed them forward until Cedar came along.

He was glad to have met such wonderful people. He felt as if somebody didn't see him as a nuisance, a failure. He pushed his team forward just as much as they pushed him. They were his motivation. They made him want to be better. They made him want to prove to everyone else that he could do so much more than weigh people down. He was going to prove to the world, once and for all, that Cedar Pine was someone. Cedar didn't know what that someone was, but he was sure that it's not a boy who stays on the island of Patch his whole life and does nothing as he watches his world crumble around him. He was going to pick up the pieces. He was going to prove that he could.


End file.
